Bitter Woods

Background

Bitter Woods^[1] is a simulation of the Battle of the Bulge designed by Randy Heller. This popular war game was originally produced by Avalon Hill. Multi-Man Publishing released a second edition, Randy self-published a third edition, and finally L2 Design Group published Deluxe Bitter Woods and the Bitter Woods Expansion Edition Rules.

The rules to Bitter Woods rank among the most clearly written and error-free to be found among war games. Although the rules are relatively straightforward, much of the history of the battle is simulated by rules that are applicable only on specific game turns. It is sometimes difficult to remember which special rules apply on any given turn. I've always felt it would be helpful to have a sequence of play that integrates reminders about which special rules apply on which turns. Even though many reminders of events are listed on the turn track, a list with additional details is more useful when you need to perform a special action during a specific phase of a turn. This is my attempt at such a list.

Annotated Sequence of Play

Mutual Supply Phase

Each player checks unit supply status.
Allies perform air drops (German turn only).

Turn	Event
16AM-17PM	Automatic supply (German units only).
17AM-26PM	Surrender check. Surrounded out-of-supply units in stacks with max ER of 3 suffer step loss on die roll of 6.
20AM-26PM	Supply shortage roll (German player).

Interdiction Phase (German Turn Only)

Allies place air units to interrupt German movement.

Turn	Event
17AM, 19AM	After placement of Allied air interdiction, German rolls for random events from DBW Player's Handbook.
18AM only	After placement of Allied air interdiction, German rolls for random events from Section 29 of rule book.

Reserve Phase

Place selected mechanized units in reserve.

Turn	Event
16AM only	Traffic jams. German mechanized units may not be placed in reserve.
17AM only	Kampfgruppe Peiper breakout bonuses.

Movement Phase

Reinforcements arrive.
Move elligible units.
Build improved positions. Allies also may build fortifications.
Start bridge repair.

Turn	Event
16AM only	Traffic jams. German mechanized units reduce movement allowance by 1.
16AM only	SS movement restriction. 1SS, 2SS, and Pz150 may not move.
16AM only	Allied movement restrictions. Only Allied units starting in enemy ZOC may move full allowance. Allied artillery may use 1 MP, US 2nd Infantry may use 3 MP, and remainder may use 2 MP. Advance after combat is unaffected. Allied artillery adjacent to German units may move full movement allowance. Optional rule 34 allows Allied leader units to move full allowance.
16AM-18PM	Army boundary restrictions observed east of termination points. German artillery command and control variant.
16PM-18PM	Panzer Brigade 150 may attempt to ignore ZOCs once by rolling 1,2, or 3.
17AM only	Kampfgruppe Peiper breakout bonuses.
18AM-19PM	Mud conditions. Clear terrain costs 2 MP for mechanized and artillery units.
18AM-21PM	German 7th Army garrison restrictions. Mersch, Consdorf, 1134, and 0335 must be occupied or every unit in 7th Army loses one movement factor and 7th Army mechanized units may not move during exploitation phase.
23AM-26PM	Ground freeze. Light woods cost 1 MP for all units.

Combat and Demolition Phase

Resolve combat in any order.
Clervaux bottleneck. Advance after combat halved; no road bonus for mechanized units.
Blow bridges at end of phase.

Turn	Event
16AM only	Allied artillery restriction: may not fire offensive ground support.
16AM only	Angriff attacks are disallowed.
16AM only	Variable surprise shift (German turn only). All attacks involving German mechanized units with ER of 5 receive 1 right column shift if a die roll is greater than the highest defender ER. Roll after Allied artillery support is declared.
16AM only	Traffic jams. Combat: German units may attack only Allied units facing their respective army staging areas. Advance after combat: German mechanized units reduce movement allowance by 1 and may not advance farther than number of hexes stated in CRT.
16AM only	Schnee Eifel. German advance or retreat after combat is reduced by one hex in combats against Allied units in Schnee Eifel.
16AM only	Monschau artillery restriction. German may not use artillery support when attacking Monschau.
16AM-16PM	Allied bridge demolition is disallowed.
16AM-18PM	Army boundary restrictions observed east of termination points. German artillery command and control variant in effect.
16PM-17PM	SS Panzer Scare. SS regiment attacks roll die to gain right column shift. Roll >= highest defending ER gains shift.
21AM-26PM	Combat attrition affects attacking mechanized units in play for 10 or more turns. Attacker applies one combat loss to an unreduced fatigued mechanized unit for CRT results marked with asterisk.

Mechanized Exploitation Phase

Move reserve units up to full movement allowance.

Turn	Event
17AM only	Kampfgruppe Peiper breakout bonuses.

Bridge Construction Phase

Finish bridge construction.

^[1]The title is borrowed from a book by John S.D. Eisenhower entitled The Bitter Woods.